Reinforced sponge cleaning device



y 12, .1959 H. w. ELLIOTT 2,885,703

REINFORCED SPONGE CLEANING DEVICE Filed April 29. 1954 INYENTOR, 1%?HAROLD w. ELLIOTT United States Patent 0,

2,885,703 REINFORCED SPONGE CLEANING DEVICE Harold W. Elliott,Bloomington, Ill., assignor to William E. Kelsey, Arcadia, Ind.

Application April 29, 1954, Serial No. 426,375

4 Claims. (Cl. 15-118) This invention relates to a new and usefulcleaning device for household, automobile, and other purposes. Spongesof natural or artificial compositions are frequentl'y used for cleaningpurposes but have the inconvenience that they are soft and crumplereadily in the hand, especially when wet, and do not present a hard orabrasive surface to the object to be cleaned. Hence they are unsuitablefor scouring pots and pans, for cleaning insects and other hard depositsfrom automobile Windshields, bumpers and the like.

It is the object of the present invention to provide a sponge cleanerwhich has a hard, reenforcing back which will impart semi-rigidity tothe sponge and prevent it from crumpling in the hand, and which may beused as an abrasive to dislodge hard deposits from the surface beingcleaned.

Another object of the invention is to provide a sponge cleaner with ahard, but flexible, backing material whereby the cleaner may be morereadily handled and used for removing firmly adhering dirt and the like.

Another object of the invention is to provide a sponge cleaner with aporous abrasive stiffening back so that moisture from the sponge willflow out through the holes in the reenforcing and abrasive backingmaterial and provide moisture for loosening the dirt at the same timethe dirt is being dislodged by the abrasive backing material.

Various other objects of my invention will become apparent as thisdescription proceeds.

In the drawings, which show a preferred form of embodiment of myinvention,

Fig. 1 is a perspective exploded view of one embodiment of an improvedsponge and backing member;

Fig. 2 is a view of the sponge and backing member assembled together toform the final cleaner.

While the sponge and the backing member have been illustrated in arectangular fiat form, it will be understood that the invention may beembodied in other shapes and forms.

In the form of embodiment chosen to illustrate the invention, a spongemember, which may be of natural sponge, expanded cellulosic materialknown as artificial sponge, sponge rubber, or the like, is indicated at1, and a relatively stiff abrasive backing member of reticulated wire orplastic in the form of a screen is indicated at 2. As shown in Fig. 2,these members are secured together by a suitable cement layer indicatedat 3 between the sponge and the backing material. While the backingmaterial may be used as an abrasive in a cleaning operation, it shouldnot be sufficiently hard to scratch the object which is being cleaned.In the case of automobile windshields, porcelain, chromium and the like,the backing layer may be of a plastic material, such as vinyl,polystyrene, alkyd, urea formaldehyde, or other type of resin, or otherplastic porous material which may be in the form of a plastic screen, orof a plastic woven fabric, such as a plastic upholstery webbing or thelike.

For certain uses the backing member 2 may be of 2,885,703 I Patented May12, 1 959 2 metallic screen as used for ordinary household windowscreen, and may be made of aluminum, copper, galvanized iron, or anyother suitable porous screen-like or woven wire material.

The backing layer should be softer than the material to be cleaned andyet sufliciently stiff to retain the sponge in either a flat or curvedplane according to the shape of the backing layer. In addition to itscleaning function, the backing layer imparts some rigidity to the spongelayer so that the sponge layer can be more readily handled and willretain its shape better than an unbacked sponge.

'aThe hardermetallic backing layers may be used, for

plated objects, and the like.

The sponge material 1 and the backing layer 2:may be connected togetherwith any permanent connection material. A water-resistant rubber-basecement, or a natural or artificial rubber cement, or any other flexiblewaterproof adhesive material, may be used to attach the backing layerand the sponge together. The cement should preferably be resistant tohot and cold water, and to soapy water, and should be of such a naturethat it will not clog or fill the openings in the backing layer.

In place of rubber-base or other cements, thermosoftening resin sheetadhesives may be used to secure the sponge 1 and the backing layer 2together or a thermosoftening plastic backing layer may be heated andsecured directly to the sponge.

The sponge and backing material may be cut and secured together inindividual units such as the units indicated in Figs. 1 and 2. It ispreferable, however, to use large sheets of sponge material and largesheets of plastic or metallic perforated backing material of the orderof 24 x 48 inches, or larger, and to cement the large sponge sheets andbacking material together and, after the adhesive has set, to cut theminto the individual sizes and shapes desired. If desired, sheet spongematerial and plastic or metal perforated backing material in long rollsmay be fed from their individual rolls, cement fed between the twolayers, and the combined materials passed through squeeze rolls to causeadhesion of the sponge and backing material, to provide in effect forthe manufacture of continuous sheets which may be later cut to thedesired shape and size.

As illustrated in Fig. 2 the edges of the screen material extend to theside edges of the sponge layer, whereby when the cleaning device is usedon edge both the sponge layer 1 and the screen backing layer 2 willcontact the surfaces to be cleaned.

The advantages of the product will be obvious from the drawings and theabove description. The spronge material will be retained sufiicientlyrigid by the backing material that it can be flexed in the hand, butwill not crumple unless substantial pressure is exerted thereon. Thesponge layer 1 may be used to moisten and remove easily removable dirtand the cleaning device may then be turned over and the abrasive orsemi-abrasive backing material 2 used to remove more adherent dirt.Moisture or cleaning fluid from the sponge will flow out through thepores of the backing material during the latter cleaning operation andassist in loosening the dirt particles.

The sponge layer may be of any sponge-like material, such as naturalsponge, expanded cellulosic sponge material known as artificial sponge,rubber sponge, and the like, and the backing layer may be of any porous,semirigid plastic, metal or fiber glass screen. Plastic screen knownunder the trade names Velon, Saran, and the like, may be used. Insteadof being cemented together,

the sponge and backing layer may be sewn or otherwise secured together,although cementing is preferred.

While I have illustrated,;a preferred form of my invention, variousmodifications and changes may be made therein without departing from:the spirit of the invention or the scope of the following claims.

I claim: 1 a I 1. As an article of manufacture, a cleaning deviceconsisting of a normally fiat sponge layer having one face I and itsside edges exposed to contact with surfaces to be cleaned, a backingmember of relatively stiff porous harder plastic screen material securedalong one side to one face of said sponge layer and having the otherside of said harder. screen material available for scouring action, theedges of said screen material extending to theside edges of saidsponge'layer,,whereby when the cleaning device :is used on edge both thesponge layer and the screen layer will contact the surfaces to becleaned, anda layer'of cement securing the sponge layer and the backing111cmx ber together. .7. v .v e I 2. A cleaning device as claimed inclaim -1 in which the sponge is artificial cellulosic sponge material.

3. A aeaiss device in accordance with claim "1 in which the spongelayer. is. composed of sponge rubber.

4. A cleaning device in accordance with claim 1 in which the backinglayer is of woven plastic strands.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS972,661 Summers Oct. 11, 1910 2,026,638 Kingman Jan. 7, 1936 2,066,420Reysa Ian. 5, 1937 2,107,636 Kingrn'an Feb. 8, 1938 2,113,452 Long Apr.5, 1938 2,121,384 Gray June 21, 1938 2,268,403 Kingman Dec. 30, 19412,358,673 Vaughn Sept. 19, 1944 2,411,842 Adams Dec. 3, 1946 2,567,951Lewis Sept. 18, 1951 2.1544914 ee e ssn 1111114, 9 2,650,158 EastmanAug. 25 1953 ,v F' REIGN PATENTS -*-a'- '--'--a'-;--a-'-

